China’s defense minister has pledged his country’s support to the Russian army in the latest in a series of high-level contacts between the top U.S. military rivals.

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe met Tuesday with Russian Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleg Salyukov in Beijing. The meeting came less than a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the capital city and Fenghe emphasized that the military leaders “expand and deepen cooperation in all areas, and push for greater development of China-Russia relations on a higher level in the new era,” according to a statement by the official China Military Online.